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I planted a penta and the butterflies are saying thank you.
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Yes, I’m posting more pictures.
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They’re such gorgeous little things, how can I not?
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So delicate…
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So pretty.
💕
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Because they’re still beautiful.
Tag Archives: maine
And then there were three.
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My third and final easy to assemble coffee table arrived yesterday.
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With what seemed like 50 cubic yards of styrofoam snow.
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Seriously, the stuff flew everywhere and has been nearly impossible to eradicate.
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I was sweeping and vacuuming like mad trying to keep ahead of it.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten was inconvenienced…
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And did not appreciate his favorite perch being turned upside down.
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Legs, shelf and trim pieces attached during a Red Sox game …
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And viola.
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Another Mission style table completes the set.
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😊
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Twice the work, none of the fun.
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I lost track of the husband the other day and found him outside, in the process of moving stone.
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This is the stone veneer he had the delivery driver drop at the far end of our property instead of closer to the front porch of the house as it should have been.
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I suggested loading it in the truck and driving it over to the garage in sections to save time (not to mention his back) but as usual, he wanted to do it the hard way and moved it piece by heavy *ss piece to the barn porch so it would be off his lawn.
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While he hauled stone?
I picked up the styrofoam, cardboard and straps it was packaged in.
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And there was a lot of that.
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55 sections of stone, roughly 20 pounds each. Back and forth across the lawn… for hours, in the afternoon sun.
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Did I mention my husband is 77 years old?
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I swear the man is a marvel.
He never quits.
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Now I just have to hope the barn porch doesn’t collapse from the weight before he can move it over to the house…
🥴
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A nice meal and a cow.
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After walking around the clam festival for a few hours we were hungry, but not for fried clams. Seems counter intuitive, I know… but the stomach wants what the stomach wants.
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We drove to the next town, Falmouth… and found one of our favorite spots positively deserted.
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Having no problem finding a seat at the bar I sampled a Melano Fizz. This consisted of cucumber-infused vodka, melon liqueur, italicus apertivo, simple syrup, and fresh lime juice.
In a word? Yum.
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My go to appetizer here is the crab arancini.
Husband went with the lobster bisque …
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Which was lovely and loaded with lobster but served in one of those ridiculously small bowls made to look large.
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Toddy number two was the hibiscus berry sangria.
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Nice, but not nearly flavorful enough for me.
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My meal was a wonderful carbonara with fresh pasta and grilled chicken. It was so good I paid no attention to my husband’s meal and failed to photograph it. My bad.
On our drive home?
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Cow!
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Cow, on a rock…
Who didn’t appreciate her meal being interrupted by the paparazzi.
😉
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This is the part where I cringe…
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Along with all the other things that are being replaced on the porch? You can add the front door. It’s original to the house and has been leaking cold air in the winter ever since we moved in. It’s shifted, barely closes properly and requires me taping it shut every December so the wind doesn’t whistle its way in.
A new door is necessary but that doesn’t mean I want my husband in charge of its replacement. He’s the king of gerry rigging and that’s not going to fly here. I wanted to wait and have a contractor to do it… he says he needs to do it now before he installs the stone siding.
So this is where I get nervous.
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Storm door removal?
Fine.
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Protective glass covering the side panel removal?
Fine.
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But then we moved indoors where the new floor was recently installed.
In order to replace a door you need rough opening measurements… and this means removing the moulding.
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My husband’s track record with this task is not good.
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But thankfully he managed the job without splintering anything.
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I know he’s going to faint when we go door shopping because it will have to be a special order.
Ka-Ching.
This paycheck sucking project never ends.
🥴
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Easy is a relative term.
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We purchased a product for our front porch remodel called Versawrap. They’re PVC covers for wooden support poles that add a decorative element as well as eliminate the need for paint.
We discovered their easy to install claim was a misnomer when we wrapped our first pole… but when we moved along to the top and bottom moulding?
We realized it was an outright lie.
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Easy my *ss.
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There are teeny tiny dovetail inserts which hold the pieces together and trust me, they are not easy to seat.
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I’m not exaggerating when I tell you it took us over an hour to place the first crown moulding section.
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If three sides clicked? The fourth would not.
If four sides clicked? It wouldn’t stay in place.
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Frustration was the word of the day.
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Two sets of moulding for each pole.
Four poles.
This is not my idea of a good time.
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Because clams deserve a festival.
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Every July the town of Yarmouth celebrates clams… and we drive south to pay homage to the humble bivalve.
Parking is difficult so we leave the car in a lot that seems like it’s 6 miles away and walk a wooded path.
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This brings us to the rear of the carnival which we try to bypass quickly.
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We’re too old for that nonsense and honestly, the smell of greasy fair food that early in the day is not my idea of ambrosia.
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We spent a pleasant hour strolling through the artists and crafters, appreciating their talent but slightly stunned at their prices. If the goal is to sell things, they may have missed the mark.
I spent considerablp less by opting for some sweet notecards.
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Please note our backyard woodchucks do not present me with flowers, they eat them…. and if our resident red squirrel brought me macarons instead of chewing holes in our walls? I might not dislike her so much.
I may not have bought framed art, but I did take full advantage of the used book tent.
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Yarmouth is a lovely village to stroll.
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Lined with beautiful old homes.
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And when you’re there?
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You have to buy a Lime Rickey.
It’s tradition.
As is the clam shucking contest…
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A highlight of the festival.
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All hale the mighty clam!
As we were leaving my husband found a Bath Iron Works display. BIW is a naval shipyard and a huge presence in our state.
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While I enjoyed reading the history? You know my husband found someone to talk to…
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And talk, and talk, and talk.
Sometimes I think this is why he likes to attend festivals. New ears to bend.
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On our way back to the car we crossed a bridge.
A bridge with attitude…
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🤣
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Just because they’re beautiful…
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Our backyard used to be filled with butterflies. When we moved here 20+ years ago, not a day went by without seeing a dozen flutter by.
Now?
They’re a rare sight.
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Which is why I run for my phone when one does make an appearance.
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Such delicate beauty..
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I miss them.
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💕
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Blooming things and a close squirrel call.
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The hostas by our kitchen landing are having a good year.
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A really good year. Tall and full of pale purple blooms.
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The day lilies that were dug up by our neighbor’s tractor when our water line burst a few years ago have finally come back to life.
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Half are yellow, half are this interesting double ruffle peach and coral.
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Sadly these two by the road are full of weeds..
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But the colors are spectacular.
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In other news… His Lordship almost caught the dreaded red b*tch.
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That rotten red rodent was sitting on the stone wall chattering at him, taunting him … swishing her tail and daring him to lunge.
So he did.
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But sadly, he missed… and she disappeared into the wall.
Almost, Dudley.
Almost.
🥴
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Random ramblings..
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As we were driving back from the hardware store where we purchased yet more materials for the front porch, we saw this on someone’s front lawn and the husband was so enamored… he pulled into their driveway for a picture.
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Bizarre yet wonderful.
Also on the way home?
He stopped for a pie.
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The husband loves pie. And even after complaining vociferously about the growing cost of our renovation projects… purchased a blueberry for $30.
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Yes.
I completely believe that’s real natural beauty.
🥴
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Sounds like my kind of beer.
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I’d never seen this before and thought it was clever.
My husband scoffed and said, “That’s a swamp cooler. Where have you been?”
Not in a swamp apparently.
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The husband’s truck is in the shop… again. He loves that old relic but I swear it spends as much time at the repair shop as it does on the road. Thankfully our mechanic is an old friend and treats us right.
He also has a sense of humor.
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😉
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River's world..... 